What are the basics to a more productive experience? Each day, we get another chance to "get it right."
Implementation seems to be key these days. Getting our work, our workspace, our priorities and our routines to line up so that we get the most important things done could be called our "MIT" - Most Important Thing.
There are things we can do to increase the likelihood that important-er things WILL get done. The ones I've been talking about in seminars more and more are:
1. NOT waiting
2. Asking for assistance
3. Course correcting when appropriate
1. We have something in common...I'm willing to bet. I had "meant" to write this post over the past little while. The first draft (I can see it in my own handwriting!) is from 5 October 2010. Each time I looked at it, including just now, I thought, Oh, I'll do that later. This morning, I want to use the advice I'm sharing, instead of waiting, I'm going to spend the time I need to get it done. Oh, a little trick: I use a timer. I gave myself 15 minutes (that's all!) to write this post. 6 minutes have already gone by!
2. It seems like the universe has a measuring stick, and just when I'm about to stretch myself too far, something happens to remind me of this one. Ask. For. Help. At work, in life, with sport, about my family...all of it. Just this morning, at 5:30am Pacific, I called a mentor of mine in the Central Time Zone. He picked up on the second ring, and I asked, "Do you have about 5 minutes to chat? I'd like to run something by you." At the end of the conversation, he promised to put me in touch with someone who could directly help me with the thing that I called about. Talk about a time-saver!
3. "Full Stop!" That's what I remind myself to do from time to time. When things are too hectic, too big, too out of control, I don't simply push through. Whether it's asking for an extension from a client on a proposal to submit, or to renegotiate my race-plan mid way through an Ironman 70.3 triathlon, I need to be willing to adjust when necessary.
Our good days, the days we "did our do." Our better days, those are the ones when we get a little more done than we thought possible. Here are just three things to think about as you go on about your day...
1. Don't wait. Get started by getting a pen and paper, writing something down, opening a book, or scheduling a meeting.
2. Reach out to a friend/coworker/peer/boss/mentor. There has to be someone out there who - if you shared where you are and what you're facing - would have an idea or suggestion for you to move the mission forward.
3. Change course. Stop. Reflect. And then, start up again in a very focused manner toward where you're going.
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